Saturday, March 03, 2012

I'm Just Like You

I cook dinner, clean the house, run a taxi service, help with homework, dry tears, and make them smile.

I'm just like you . . .

I have the same questions as you. Will my kids succeed, will school be easy or hard for them, will they have close friends, will they be happy?

I'm just like you . . .

I too, can be so frustrated that I take refuge in the bathroom to hide my tears, I do yell, I do get angry, and I do get embarrassed.

I'm just like you . . .

You may not see that side of me. The me you see is happy, well - adjusted, and together. The me you see, has everything under control, handles stress with ease, and can get everything done.

I'm just like you . . .

or am I?

I get sad that my kids aren't like the other kids. I get frustrated that God has allowed them all to have special needs. I worry everyday whether or not they will be bullied at school for being different. My heart aches when I see other kids look at them strange or see that their hearts have been crushed.

I get frustrated when I see a parent that doesn't understand my kids. They don't get it. I get hurt when parents tell me that it's my fault they are like this. I am sad when I know my kids struggle with little things like tying shoes, buttoning, and hopping on one foot when they are old enough to know how.

I'm just like you . . .

My kids make me smile, they bring laughter in my life, they give hugs and kisses that make my day brighter. They make my life better.

They are unique.

Gifts from God.

Ones that I treasure with my whole heart.

I'm just like you.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Right Brained Math: Multiplication

My daughter has a tough time memorizing and retaining information. So throughout her school life once she got lost she stayed lost. As the years went by school became so overwhelming for her. There were days that she begged me to stay home. It wasn't because people were making fun of her but she was so lost she just didn't want to even try anymore.

When I took her out of public school and made the decision to home school her, I realized just how overwhelmed she was. Math was a struggle. To her the black and white problems were undecipherable. It wasn't fun. And she tended to skip lots of problems.

After a few months I realized that she is "Right Brained" . It was like an AHA!! Moment for me. And then I realized that I am the exact same way. As I look back to my years in school I remember my downward spiral started with multiplication. If I had understood them then, I probably wouldn't have struggled so much.

Over the last few months, while searching for ways to help teach her that made sense, I found Mr. Numbers. He makes math fun with patterns, puzzles and simple ways to learn. I'm amazed at his videos. I'm actually learning more as well as my daughter. Here is one of the cool tricks he teaches to learn the 3's, 6's, and 9's.

He makes it so easy to understand! When she watched this video, she got this look of understanding. It was a great feeling when she understood a concept. It made her feel more confident and she had no problems with her lessons in multiplying . I was truly amazed. Check out Mr. Numbers other videos on You Tube when you get the chance.

You'll be glad you did and so will your "Right Brained" Learners!

Monday, February 27, 2012

I Need Your Feedback

For years my blog as been just a family and product review blog. But over the years as my kids disabilities become more prominent I have been more focused on how to help them succeed in school, socially, and emotionally. Now the content of my blog has changed as I have learned a lot from reading about my kids and their uniqueness.

My blog will focus on Autism, Asperger's, ADHD, Central Auditory Processing Disorder, Dyslexia, Sensory Integration Disorder, Homeschooling and much more. We will delve into helping our kids socially, emotionally and educationally With tips, activities, product reviews for toys, books, and tools that will help your child succeed.

This site is not just for the kids but for the parents too. We tend to be very quiet about our fears, frustrations, and life changes that affect our whole being when we have children like ours. I want it to be a place where parents can see that they aren't the only ones. I hope to build a community of parents that will support each other.

What I need is ideas. What would you like to see as far as topics, product reviews, activities, Interviews etc. It can be a specific toy you found helpful, a concept in school that your kids are having a hard time with (ie. telling time, multiplication tables, tying shoes etc. ).

I would also love to write about your story your successes and your kid's triumphs. Let's tell the world how special our kids are!

Please email me at Tiffanie@steventiffanie.com with "Three Peas Ideas" in the subject line.

Friday, February 24, 2012

A Change . . .

Our life with three kids that are unique unto their own can be stressful. How do we teach them, how can we have less stress, and most importantly, how do we cope as parents? Those are the questions we have asked so many times in our kids lives.

We have three unique kids each with their own story to tell. Each living with learning disabilities. And each struggling to cope with their uniqueness. This started out as just a family blog but now that the daily struggles have been primary in our lives, my blog has changed course.

I hope that I can inspire you, educate you and most of all show you that you are not alone in this journey.

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

General Mills Cereal Treat Bars Giveaway

My kids are Lucky Charms fans. They love to eat all the marshmallows and leave the rest for us to eat.

Gee thanks!

They also love to see what color there milk will turn if they leave them in the bowl for a bit. Soggy cereal is not my thing. But hey, they aren't fighting and they are eating breakfast.

I'm happy.

The new Lucky Charms cereal bars are right up there ally! They have just plenty of marshmallows to make them happy and they get to open it themselves! At just 100 calories per serving, they are nice little snack or treat to add to their lunches.

And to mine.

Besides Lucky Charms, another popular breakfast cereal has been made into a cereal bar…Golden Grahams! I love Golden Grahams. Golden Grahams was the closest thing to a sugar cereal I was allowed when I was a kid. Now, as a cereal bar, it’s like eating a yummy s’more but without all the mess! The Golden Graham cereal bars are only 130 calories! Another yummy snack that won’t break the calorie bank!

Another great thing about the cereal bars is the fact that there are TWO Box Tops for Education on EACH box! And we collect those all the time.

Now, thanks to General Mills and My Blog Spark, one lucky reader can enjoy EACH of the cereal bars mentioned above and everything in the picture below!

GIVEAWAY!!

You must complete the mandatory entry FIRST before any additional entry will be counted. Please leave EACH entry in a new comment. Good luck!

Mandatory Entry: Tell me what your favorite cereal is.

Additional Entries:

Follow Three Peas in a Pod on Facebook
Put this contest as your status on Facebook (one entry per day)
Enjoy a bowl of your favorite cereal
Tweet this giveaway (one tweet per day)
Blog this giveaway linking back to Three Peas in a Pod (5 additional entries)
Sing I'm a little Teapot to whatever or who ever will listen (one entry per comment)

This giveaway will run from October 4 until October 11 at midnight. One winner will be chosen using Random.org .

Note: Cereal Treats Bars, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Endorse

Have you heard of it yet? It's a new app on Facebook that rewards you for buying the products you love. By using Endorse you can "endorse" your favorite products and get paid back for buying those products with your followers whenever and wherever you already shop- online and offline. The more followers you have and the more loyal you all are to those products, the more everyone earns back. You could earn hundreds of dollars a month by staying loyal to your favorite brands, products, and retailers!

How does it work? Sign up, endorse your favorite products, and start following your friends. Endorse will send you envelopes in the mail for you to put your receipts in and mail back at the end of the week. It's that easy!